Joe Crislip, boys basketball coach at Parkersburg South High School is
stepping down.

The veteran Patriot hoops mentor turned in his resignation to Principal Tom
Eschbacher on Thursday and met with players after school to tell them about
his decision.

He cites career, family, and "it's time" as his reasons for stepping down.

Crislip is interested in pursuing other career options, either coaching or
administrative opportunities. This past year, he completed his master's
degree in educational administration from West Virginia University.

He and his wife, Diana, have two daughters. "I'm looking forward to
spending more time with my family," Crislip said. Meredith Crislip is a
freshman at Marshall competing on the golf team. Joe and Diana will be
traveling to Harrisonburg this weekend to watch Meredith compete in the Lady
Dukes Invitational. The younger, Allison, is a high school sophomore at
South and a member of the Lady Patriot basketball team.

Crislip has been involved with South Boys Basketball for the past twenty
years. After serving as an assistant coach under Larry Edwards for 10
years, he was hired as the head coach of his alma-mater in 1994. He
compiled a 145-92 (61.2%) record at South, including a 107-39 (73.3%) mark
over the past 6 seasons.

The 2002-2003 season ended with the school's only state basketball
championship. South finished 21-6, coming from behind to win all five
tournament games during their championship march.

He is a two-time winner of the state coaches association Coach of the Year
award and was recently recognized during the state tournament as being the
2003 National Federation Coaches Association Active Coach Award.

In addition to coaching boys basketball, Crislip has spent the past five
springs coaching girls basketball teams at South in AAU/YBOA competition.
He is a member of the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Board of Directors and
co-founder and camp director of the Preparing for the Future basketball camp.

Crislip isn't leaving the cupboard bare at South. Five of the top nine
players from this past season return, led by junior Ryan Dawson who was
voted captain of the AP Class AAA All-State 2nd Team. Next year's schedule
will again be one of the toughest in the state with match-ups against Ohio
state semi-finalist Columbus Brookhaven, Cincinnati North College Hills,
traditional Ohio power Zanesville and state foes Wheeling Park, Morgantown,
Robert C. Byrd and city rival Parkersburg.